Copy printing machine



Aug. 7, 1934. H. D. ATWOOD 1,963,814

COPY PRINTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 20, 1952 lnvania Haifj D. Atwood flfia nggs enema Aug. 1, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE:

corr rnnv'rmo MACHINE Barry D. Atwood, Rockford, 111., assignor of one- 4 Claims.

-My invention relates to the making of duplicate copies of matter printed ina typewriting machine or the like and has more particular reference to the control of a. ribbon or other inkcarrying medium in a machine in which a duplicate or carbon copyof the typed matter is formed by a narrow band or ribbon disposed between the sheet of paper on which the original copy is typed and the paper sheeton which the duplicate copy formed.

Typewriting machines of the above character have been constructed heretofore with an auxiliary ribbon or ink-bearing medium of narrow width mounted for bodily vertical movement into and (out .of a position behind the main ribbon so as to facilitate location of the auxiliary ribbon in proper printing position between adjacent sheets of paper. In such machines, it has been necessary for the operator to advance the auxiliary ribbon in an endwise direction manually with the result that certain portions of the ribbon become worn excessively and the duplicate copy is unevenly printed.

The primary object of the present invention is to overcome the above objectionto present day copying machines of the above character by providing for automatic advancing of the auxiliary ribbon transversely of the page.

Another object is to provide, in a typewriting 80 machine of the above character having means acting automatically as an incident to certain functions performed in the normal operation of the machine to effect periodic advancing movements of the auxiliary ribbon at the same time 85 supporting the ribbon for bodily transverse movement into and out of printing position between the paper sheets on which the original and duplicate copies are to be printed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a ribbon control mechanism of the above character which is operative only 'when the ribbon is in printing position.

The invention also resides in the novel construction' of the ribbon advancing mechanism above referred to which permits of convenient reversal of the direction of the ribbon feed and replacement of the ribbon.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of a standard typewriter equipped with copy-printing mechanism embodying the novel features of the present invention.

2-is a vertical sectional view alonga plane,

located to the left of the ribbon spool on the left side of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative, constructions, I have shown in the drawing and will herein de scribe in detail the preferred embodiment, but

it is to be understood that I do not thereby intend to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but intend to cover all modificationsiand alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the form of the 'nvention illustrated in the drawing, 4 indicates t e side frames of a paper carriage in a. standard typewriter rotatably supporting the usual cylindrical platen 5. Paper on which matter is to be typed is passsed beneath the platen and upwardly between the platen and guides 6 for the main ribbon '7 against whichthe type 8 are projected by depression of the letter keys. Step by step rotation of the platen to effect line spacing and return of the carriage to a position to begin a new line is effected by the manual application of lateral pressure on the usual bell crank 9 pivoted at 10 on the carriage. Counter-clockwise oscillation of the lever 9 causes rearward endwise movement of a bar 11 carrying a pawl 12 which engages a ratchet wheel 13 on the platen and advances the latter and the paper thereon one or more line spaces. Continued application of such pressure on the lever. 9 moves the carriage toward the right' to position the same for the beginning of a new line.

The auxiliary or copy ribbon indicated by the I numeral 14 may be of the same construction as the ordinary typewriter ribbon 7 or may comprise a narrow band of paper or fabric coated with carbon black or other suitable material'on one side only. Opposite ends of the ribbon are wound in the ,usual way upon spools 15 and the intermediate portion is led around suitable guides forming a substantially straight ribbon section of a length greater than that of the platen 5 disposed in a vertical plane and vertically movable into and out of the space between platen and the usual paper guide 16..

As herein shown by way of illustration, the means for thus supporting the ribbon 14 comprises two parallel frames 16 of hollow construction rigidly connected at their rear ends by a rod 17 pivotally supported on the upper ends of sheet metal brackets 18 securely fastened to the carriage side frames 4. The frames 16 may thus be swung upwardly about the rod 1'? as an axis but normally rest upon the carriage as shown in Fig. 1 in which position they areheld by spring clips 19 secured to the brackets 18. I l

The ribbon 14 is supported by the frames 16 through the medium of bars 20 each having a lateral lug 21 thereon projecting through a slot on the inner side of the frame and mounted on a vertical guide rod 22 disposed within the frame. Projecting forwardly from the bars 20 are disks 23 having radial slots 24 therein, the closed ends of which slots provide bearings for rotatably supporting the opposite ends of a shaft 25 upon which the spools are loosely mounted. The slots 24 permit the shaft with the spools thereon to be removed quickly and conveniently. The proper longitudinal position of the shaft is determined by collars 26 thereon disposed externally of the disks 23 when the shaft is mounted thereon. Projecting from the sides of the bars opposite the lugs 21 are flanges 27 around writer.

the upper ends of which the ribbon 14 is led from the spools l5 and thence through an inclined slot 28 in the flange thereby defining the horizontal intermediate ribbon section.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the spools 15 and the U-shaped length of ribbon therebetween are supported for bodily vertical movement into and out of a position between the platen 5 and the guide plate 16 and directly opposite themain ribbon '7 when the latter is in printing position. Movement of the ribbon 14 into and out of printing position from the retracted position shown in Fig. 1 may be effected by vertical movement of an arm 29 projecting laterally from a lever 30 disposed within the right hand frame 16 and connected to the lug 21 "on the adjacent bar 20. v When the sheets of paper are inserted in the typewriter, the auxiliary ribbon 14 is positioned as shown in Fig. 1. As the top edges of the sheets are projected upwardly from the guide plate 16 they are separated and the operator then lowers the ribbon 14 into printing position between the sheets.

The present invention contemplates feeding the auxiliary ribbon 14 in an endwise direction automatically as an incident to any movement which occurs in the normal operation 10f .a type- For the sake of simplicity of construction, it is preferred to efiet said feed as an incident to the return of the carriage for the beginning of p a new line and more particularly to movement of the lever 9 on the typewriter by which return of the carriage and line spacing are effected as above described. To this end, a pawl 31 is pivotally mounted on the end of an arm 32 rigid with and projecting forwardly from an upstanding arm 33 on the bar 11. The pawl is yieldably supported by a spring wire 34 and, upon lowering of the ribbon 14 to printing posiation as above described, is brought into operative association with the teeth of a ratchet wheel 35 fixed to the shaft 25 adjacent the left hand spool 15. ,1

It will be apparent from the foregoing that each manipulation of the lever 9 to return the carriage or feed the paper upwardly will move .the pawl 31 rearwardly and thereby turn the shaft 25'through a short angular distance in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2. Upon release of the lever 9, the pawl 31 rides over the teeth of the ratchet wheel and a retaining pawl 36 engaging the ratchet wheel 35 holds the shaft in advanced position. inasmuch as the direction of the ribbon feed, the other spool remaining loose on the shaft so that ribbonmay be unwound therefrom. In the present instance this means comprises two simple clutches for coupling the respective spools to the shaft 25 and each comprising a clutching member in the form of a lever 37 which is pivoted on a collar 38 on the shaft for movement into and out of a position to engage a shoulder formed by a lug 39 on the adjacent spool. When the lever 37 is swung outwardly as shown at the left in Fig. 1, the member 3'7 passes the lug 39 without engagement and the adjacent spo'ol remains loose on the shaft 25. With the lever 37 in engaged position as shown at theright in Fig. 1, the lever will strike the lug 39 and thereby couple the spool to theshaft 25. In the step by step movements of the latter, the ribbon 14 will be wound onto theright hand spool 15 thereby unwinding ribbon from the other spool and drawing the same through the guide slots. The straight section of the ribbon forming the duplicate copy of the type matter is thus advanced periodically so that new sections of the ribbon come into use.

When substantially all of the ribbon becomes wound onto one spool, it becomes desirable to reverse the direction of the feed. This may be accomplished simply and conveniently with the present mechanism by uncoupling from the shaft 25 the spool on which the ribbon is wound and coupling the empty spool to the shaft. To this end, it is merely necessary for the operator to reverse the positions of the clutch control levers 37 whereupon subsequent movements of the shaft 25 will wind the ribbon 14 onto the empty spool.

To hold the section of ribbon between the spools 15 taut at all times and prevent overrunning of the ribbon in its intermittent movements, means is provided for yieldably restraining movement of the spool which is loose on the shaft 25. Herein this means operates by applying a frictional drag on the loose spool and is in the form ofstar-shaped disks 40 of resilient metal each loosely mounted on the shaft 25 between the spools and friction washers 41. When the shaft is inserted in the slots 24 with the disks disposed between the collar 26 and the washer 41, the

bowed arms 42 of the disks 40 will be compressed between the washer and the spool thereby applying a .frictional drag on the latter which acts" effectually to prevent overrunning of the loose spool after each advance of the ribbon.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the plied readily to standard typewriter constructions.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a typewriter having a laterally shiftable paper carriage, a platen roller thereon and a device manually operable to effect return of the carriage and line-feeding movement of said platen, the combination of a horizontal shaft mounted on said carriage for bodily vertical movement, a pawl adapted to be reciprocated by movement of said device, a ratchet wheel fast on said shaft adapted to be brought into operative association with said pawl upon lowering of said shaft to active position, two spools loosely mounted at opposite ends of said shaft, an auxiliary inking ribbon having opposite end portions wound onto said spools, means guiding the intermediate portion of the ribbon to define a straight section disposed in a vertical plane and movable into printing position behind the-main ribbon of the typewriter upon lowering of said shaft to active position, and means by which one or the other of said spools may be coupled to said shaft selectively to determine the directionof movement of the auxiliary ribbon relative to said guide means upon actuation of said device.

2. In a typewriter having a laterally shiftable paper carriage, a platen roller thereon and a device manually operable to effect return of the carriage and line-feeding movement of said platen, the combination of a horizontal shaft mounted on said carriage for vertical movement, a pawl adapted to be reciprocated by movement of said device, a ratchet wheel fast on said shaft adapted to be brought into operative association with said pawl upon lowering of said shaft to active position and to be advanced unidirectionally upon reciprocation of said pawl, an auxiliary inking ribbon, a spool loosely mounted on one end of said shaft and having one end portion of said ribbon wound thereon, a second spool mounted on the opposite end of the shaft for rotation therewith and having the opposite end of said ribbon attached thereto, guide means for the intermediate portion of said ribbon defining a substantially straight ribbon section adapted when said shaft is lowered to lie between said platen and'the main typewriter ribbon opposite the latter.

3. In a keyboard operated typewriter having a device actuated periodically in normal operation of the typewriter, the combination of a shaft, a pair of spaced spools one'coupled to said shaft and the other loose thereon, an auxiliary copy-printing ribbon having opposite ends wound on said spools, means on the typewriter carriage rotatably supporting said shaft for bodily vertical movement to carry the intermediate portion of said ribbon into and out of printing position between the regular ribbon and the typewriter platen, a pawl mounted on said carriage and reciprocated by said device, and a ratchet wheel coupled to said shaft and arranged to be moved into and out of operative engagement with said pawl upon lowering of said ribbon into and raising thereof out of printing position.

4. In a keyboard operated typewriting machine having a laterally shiftable paper carriage with a rotatable platen thereon, the combination of a member mounted on said carriage for endwise reciprocation transversely of the platen, a shaft, a pair of spools one coupled to said shaft and the other loose thereon, an auxiliary copy printing ribbon having opposite ends wound on said spools, a frame on said carriage rotatably supporting said shaft for bodily vertical movement to carry an intermediate portion of the ribbon into and out of printing position between the main ribbon and said platen, a ratchet member coupled to said shaft, ar d a pawl element mounted on one of said members for oscillation about a fixed point thereon and having a free end which is brought into and out of operative association with the other of said members upon lowering and raising said shaft into and out of printing position.

HARRY D. ATWOOD. 

